Distributing a real-time control program to a plurality of input/output nodes

A method of distributed logic processing for operation through a network having a logic programming node which connects through I/O nodes to a plurality of inputs on a controlled system the inputs having logic states, and which connect to a first I/O node for operating a first output on the controlled system and which connects to a second I/O node for operating a second output on the controlled system, the method comprising the steps of:

• within the logic programming node, translating a control program from a higher-level logical programming language into an executable logic, wherein the control program logically relates the first and second outputs to the logic states for inputs communicating with the network;
• automatically subdividing the executable logic into a first portion corresponding to the first output controlled at the first I/O node, and a second portion corresponding to the second output controlled at the second I/O node;
• communicating the first portion of the executable logic through the network for execution within the first I/O node to operate the first output in response to the logic states for logically related inputs;
• communicating the second portion of the executable logic through the network for execution within the second I/O node to operate the second output in response to the logic states for logically related inputs;
• and
• transmitting through the network to the first and second I/O nodes the logic states for the plurality of inputs, wherein each I/O node responds to the logic states for logically related inputs to control a respective one of the outputs connected to that I/O node.